


He Calls Her Victoria

by Libbylou22



Category: Station 19 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 21:04:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18948622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Libbylou22/pseuds/Libbylou22
Summary: He calls her Victoria, and eggy. Occasionally Vic. At work he stuck to Hughes. But on the day of the coffee factory fire he called her name. Victoria.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The actual meat of this story takes place in Friendly Fire but with some changes.
> 
> NO ONE knows about Vic and Ripley.
> 
> The timeline of their relationship is stretched a bit and the marriage conversation from the beginning of Friendly Fire happened earlier than what it did in the show and had a very different outcome.
> 
> We don't know a lot about Vic pre show but in S2E1 she implies its been a hard life then Travis says his husband died. So I've taken that and used my imagination.
> 
> I'm not sure if I'll continue this or not but I couldn't get it out of my head and there's not enough stories of these guys. If you are thinking about writing something about them, do it! Please! We all need our fix of this wonderful couple.
> 
> I'm not American so any mistakes are all mine. Apologies. English is new to me.

The day they got married, secretly, in the courthouse, he called her Victoria. He'd used her legal name and she had used his.

It was the first time she'd ever heard her name sound like music. She'd never liked her name. It was her mother's. But she hasn't stuck around long and left her with her dad and brother, the first a drunk and the latter an older brother who'd abused and raped her frequently.

They'd both belittled her for her name, cursed any resemblance to her mom. And when she escaped she vowed to never be Victoria or Tori ever again. Victoria was a broken 16-year-old.

Vic was a strong independent woman, and Hughes was a brave fire fighter.

But Victoria Ripley. Hughes-Ripley?

Whatever her last name was. The new Victoria didn't resemble her old life.

That night at a quiet celebratory dinner at a restaurant they knew they wouldn't be spotted he asked her why she didn't like Victoria as a name. And while he had known about her brother and father he hadn't known what the name had meant. When she explained it she surprised even herself when she told him she liked the way he said it.

And so he called her Victoria, and eggy. Occasionally Vic. At work he stuck to Hughes. But the day of the coffee factory fire he called her name. Victoria.

It started out as a normal call. They often served as a RIT team on calls like this. Vic was extremely frustrated by Captain Conlin who ignored the Chiefs orders to evacuate in favor of searching for one of his people. She went after him to try and get him to go with her. To follow orders. "Sir. We can't-"

Everything was black. She was out for a minute and when she came to she knew it was bad. Moments with Lucas filled her brain.

The day 3 months ago they'd addressed marriage as an option and only hours later they married. But it wasn't to circumvent the rules. It was because they wanted it. So they chose to keep the marriage a secret until they'd been married 4 or 5 months. This ensured that HR would be convinced of a real relationship and help to give them credibility in the event that their conduct was investigated. They couldn't be discriminated against as a married couple but they could still be poked and prodded and investigated.

The day they'd gone to meet his sister. The day they'd moved in together. The day he rescued a cat from a storm drain and she'd insisted on taking it home and keeping it despite the fact the Stormy hated humans and would torment the couple with his meows every single night. The moment she told him she could never have children. His face when she'd sprayed him with water while doing the dishes.

She'd had over 8 months with him total and it wasn't enough. But it would have to be.

The beam that was crushing Conlin was heavy and sat on her chest. She could feel him trying to move it. To help her. But she begged him to stop. Everything hurt and there was no way they would get out of this alive.

She heard him radio in that they were down and the building wasn't structurally sound.

She looked at him and whispered the word every fire fighter understood to be the universal code for accepting fate and death. "Semper Paratus."

He nodded. "Hughes and I feel that it's unsafe to send anyone in to retrieve us. Coffee is exploding all over the place."

"Captain what's your location." Sullivan called on the radio. "Hughes? I order you to tell me where you are." Sullivan called glancing at Lucas who had turned white. It was strange, he thought to himself, because Luke at seen worse. Commanded worse. And now he wasn't saying anything. He wasn't doing his job.

"Negative captain. No one comes in." Vic said into her radio. Every word hurt. Physically and emotionally. She knew he could hear her.

"Hughes you are disobeying direct orders. What is your location?" Sullivan shouted, frustrated.

She didn't respond.

Lucas looked at the building, his wife was in there hurt and ready to die. He pulled his gear on quickly and no one seemed to notice him until he was on the radio. "Victoria. What is your location?" He pleaded.

"Lucas. No. Please don't." She was running out of energy. She had so much more to say but no energy to say it.

Everyone turned to the Chief who was visibly not himself. He was no longer chief. He was Lucas Ripley husband of Victoria the woman trapped in the fire riddled building. "Victoria, I am coming in and unless you want me to die in there looking for you. You will tell me your location Victoria."

"No. Stay outside." She whispered into the radio. "I love you." She said a bit louder.

She could see Conlin looking at her. "I'm secretly married to the chief." She told him wich made him laugh for a moment

Chief! He heard someone calling him. He ignored it and moved to the entry of the building but Gibson's voice made him pause. "Drone used the heat map to find them. North east quadrant." Bishop rushed forward to join the chief without waiting for orders from Sullivan who had become the incident commander without any formal handover.

The pair made their way to the quadrant with no issues when suddenly a stack of bags blew. Ripley hit the ground hard and Bishop landed on top of him.

Once they got up and started moving again pass devices begin indicating the location of the downed firefighters.

It took everything Ripley and Mya had to remove the beam. Vic was unconscious and unmoving but Conlin screamed in pain. Mya helped get him into a standing position and when she turned to help Ripley he had scooped Vic into his arms despite the extra gear both of them carried. "Let's go!" He shouted.

They emerged from the building amidst fire and waves of heat. He laid her on the gurney and ripped off his mask and gloves coughing hard and vomiting a bit on the ground.

Sullivan rushed over filled with anger. "What the Fuck was that?" He shouted, "you can't just abandon incident command to go be a hero."

Ripley coughed again. "I couldn't get her die in there either."

"Them, you couldn't let them die in there you mean." Sullivan corrected looking at his former best friend knowing full well what he meant.

"I'm going to the hospital with her." Ripley said, "You can handle this?" He asked. It didn't sound like a question though.

Sullivan nodded, "You two are involved?" He asked.

"Married." Luke said. He looked at Sullivan one last time and then the paramedics began to move the gurney and Ripley followed.

Once at the hospital doctors took over and one of them looked at Lucas and took notes as he told her about the incident. "Do you know who her emergency contact is Chief Ripley?" Dr. Bailey asked as she finished intubation.

Luke looked around. "It's Travis Montgomery on her paperwork at the fire station but I'm her husband. He ignored the surprised looks, "We've kept everything a secret, because of ranks and HR rules."

"Do you want updates sent to her emergency contact? Technically your marriage supersedes that."

"I want updates, but please share updates with her team too. They are her family too even if they don't know about me."

She was taken to emergency surgery and after he kissed her unmoving body and watched her disappear he felt so incredibly alone. He had become so dependent on her, her laughter, her mere presence in his life. The idea of that being gone hurt him deeply. He wanted to cry. And in the moment he would have been ok with tears in a public place. But his coughing prevented even that.

"Sir you need to get that checked." Dr. Wilson said. She pulled him into an empty exam room and began the protocol for smoke inhalation.

In the waiting room station 19 having handed over command to another station waiting impatiently for news.

"I just checked with a nurse. I'm not her emergency contact anymore." Travis said sitting down to rub his temples.

"She said I love you over the radio. Was that to us? Or the chief?" Bishop wondered out loud.

"We'd know if she was dating him right?" Ben asked.

Travis shook his head, "He called her Victoria, no one is allowed to call her that. I don't even know why."

Sullivan was quiet and he let his team speculate too shocked to even say anything to fill them in. His phone buzzed and a text from Luke informed him of a chemical exposure at the fire. He looked at Mya and noticed her coughing. "Bishop, go get that checked now. I have reports that we were exposed to chemicals during the fire. I'll arrange for someone to come check everyone here so we can wait for news. But you need to go get help now Bishop."

Mya gulped, his tone didn't inspire confidence but she obeyed.

And that's how she found herself sharing a hospital room with the chief.

It was quiet and awkward with their coughs being the only thing breaking the silence.

A blond nurse entered with a clipboard. "Mr. Ripley?"

Lucas looked up, "Yes?"

"We have some papers you need to sign for your wife's surgery, in regards to what measures you want taken."

Lucas's eyes clouded with sadness. "Thank you. Her directives are clear and I won't have anyone going against them. I'll get the office to forward you a copy."

The woman nodded, "Thank you sir. I still need your authorization for the surgery. Just the top form."

Luke signed it and the woman left leaving the two in the small room together. Mya looked at him she adjusted the nasal cannula and shifted her weight. "Wife?" She finally asked.

He nodded, "Almost 4 months now. We didn't want anyone to think we did it to get around the rules so we planned to wait to tell people."

Mya looked shocked, "Wow."

Luke played with the tape on his IV. "I owe you a thank you, for coming in with me. No one asked or ordered you to, you just did it and I couldn't have saved her without you. Or Conlin for that matter."

Mya looked at him with distrust. "I did it for her and Conlin, not for you."

Luke nodded, "I respect that." He paused, "Even if she doesn't make it, we didn't leave her to die and that means something."

"She'll be ok." Mya said trying to be reassuring.

Luke looked like he might cry.

"I'm going to take this little IV for a walk down the hall and see if I can find someone to give us an update on her." Mya said, looking to do anything to escape the awkwardness. She was unable to find someone to give an update on Vic but she found Dr. Wilson who had been on their way to them with distressing news regarding the chemicals in their system. When they opened the door they found the chief on the floor beside his bed a bloodied gash on his head.

He called her Victoria, but would he ever get to call her that again?


	2. Chapter 2

One ring

Sullivan looked like he might cry.

Two rings

Maya was crying.

Three

Four

Dean gritted his teath.

Five

Six

Seven

Andy's face was screwed in a weird face trying to refrain from thinking of her mother.

Eight

Nine

Ten

Jack had tears. They were quiet especially compared to the woman on his side.

Eleven

Twelve

Travis didn't look like he could continue. His hand was visibly shaking

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Jennifer looked away sobbing.

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty Bells

The earth shattered. What would life be like? Losing a fire fighter was an impossible feeling. But losing the love of your life was indescribable.

Everything hurt.

The last bell rang forever.

Pain.

Being the spouse of a firefighter funeral had to be the hardest. Following the coughen. In uniform. Being the widow of anyone was hard.

Widow.

What an awful word.

The burial was the worst part.

The dirt hitting the box in the ground was so final.

-_-_- Station 19-_-_-_-

Vic felt like shit. Her eyes opened and she looked around. Panic set in. Travis was there. Luke was not. There was a tube. She couldn't talk. She couldn't ask about him. But her dream, it wasn't a dream was it. It felt real. It had to have been. He was dead. Her eyes teared up.

Travis smiled. "Hi." He squeezed her hand. "Don't try to talk. You got caught up in a fire do you remember?"

She nodded slightly. She remembered pieces. Not how he died.

"You've got to stay intubated for a bit. You've got some serious lung issues." He paused, "Mrs. Ripley."

Vic looked panicked. He knew? And then she remembered him going in after her. Her frantic pleas on the radio.

"Vic." His eyes teared up.

She wanted to cry. She could cry. He was dead.

Why had she lived?

Travis took both her hands. "There were some serious cleaning chemicals being used. It compromised the chief. His heart. Vic he's still unconscious from open heart surgery."

Vic looked relived for a second before it hit her. She moved to try to rip her tube out in a panic to ask questions.

A nurse appeared to help restrain her while another put her back under.

She fell back into a deep restless sleep where Luke was dead and she'd never gotten the chance to marry him.


	3. Chapter 3

She died. He was sure of it.

He watched her go in to the building. Gave the orders to her team in fact.

She'd been willing to die for her team, for other fire fighters and while he'd do the same it still hurt to think about.

His dreams started happy enough with moments of their time together. But they spiraled quickly and he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. Moments with him and their kids. But she couldn't have kids.

He was so confused.

Then suddenly he was looking at her. Dead. In a hospital bed. Doctors informing him of their efforts.

-_-_- Station 19-_-_-_-

One ring

Sullivan looked like he might cry. The memory of losing his wife made him feel for Ripley in a way he'd never been able to at another funeral.

Two rings

Maya was crying.

Three

Four

Dean gritted his teeth and avoided looking at the Chief.

Five

Six

Seven

Andy's face was screwed in a weird face trying to refrain from thinking of her mother while she herself rang the bells. This seemed like torture.

Eight

Nine

Ten

Jack had tears. They were quiet especially compared to the woman on his side.

Eleven

Twelve

Travis didn't look like he could continue standing. Maya held onto his arm to steady him.

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Jennifer looked away and held on to her brother's hand.

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty Bells

The earth shattered. What would life be like? Losing a fire fighter was an impossible feeling. But losing the love of your life was indescribable.

Everything hurt.

The last bell rang forever.

Part of him wished it would never end because he wouldn't have to say goodbye.

Being the spouse of a firefighter funeral had to be the hardest. Following the box filled with his wife. In uniform while people whispered about his secret marriage. Being the widow of anyone was hard being the widow of a secret wife was strange.

Widow.

What an awful word.

The burial was the worst part.

The dirt hitting the box in the ground was so final.

She had a wonderful smile. One that lit up the room. And her personality. The way her face melted when he called her name. But he'd never call her Victoria again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all still part of his dream/memories if anyone was confused.

"Marriage?" The word felt strange on Vic's lounge. Her insides felt warm, "Are you serious?" her tone was nearly a whisper. She saw panic in his facial features, "I am in if you are." The words came out fast and she didn't even realize she was saying them until she had.

Lucas looked shocked. "Vic. You know how I feel about marriage. I don't just want wife number three and divorce number three. I want a lifetime. If you aren't ready or that isn't what you want. We don't have to do it, or we can wait. We can still go public. I'll take a leave of absence or suspension. And even if we did get married, we'd have to keep it a secret for a month or two to so people wouldn't think we did it to circumvent the rules."

Vic leaned across the table, "Lucas Ripley, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We love each other. And six months ago if you'd have said I'd be here I'd have run. But you make me happier than I have ever been before in my life. I have never depended on anyone like I have I have you. I come home from work and all I want is you. And I am terrified by all that. But I don't want to run away." She took his hand.

Luke smiled widely, "So is that a yes."

Vic grinned, "Hell Yes." She looked at her watch, it was only 8 am. "Let's do it today. Now?"

"You are amazing Victoria Hughes." Luke grinned.

"So we gonna do this?" Vic asked pushing back her plate.

"Well I think we need some plans first. We can't just run to the court house and get married. It's still a marriage. We need to do it right."

"What do we need to do?"

"We need rings and a license. Perhaps some nice clothes so we can have photos?"

Vic nodded. "Easy. Let's go to the mall. We can get what we need there and then head to the courthouse.

Lucas weighed the idea. "You make it sound so easy."

Vic smiled, "All you have to do is say yes."

He leaned over and kissed her. "How could I say no.

The rings where easy and the jeweler resized the two bands while Vick and Luke found clothes. Vic found a dress and surprisingly it was white. She'd never bene a white dress type of girl but in this moment it felt right. It fell off her shoulders and was a sheer material that hugged her curves. When Luke appeared in a suit and tie she shook her head. "I think you need to wear your dress uniform."

"Oh really?"

She laughed, "Yea, it gets me all hot and bothered."

He grabbed her by the waist. "Well I can't say no to that." He wrapped his arms around her. "You in this dress has me all hot and bothered."

Vic grinned, "Want to do it in the dressing room?" She whispered in his ear.

Lucas looked at her and tried to be stern. "Not on our wedding day. How about I book us a hotel tonight instead?"

Vic nodded, "Let's go home pack, get our birth certificates and whatever else we need for a marriage license, pack a bag, find a judge get married, and find ourselves a big fancy sex hotel."

He laughed. God he loved her.

They paid for her dress, picked up their rings and stopped at both their homes to pick up their paperwork and overnight bags. Vic changed and fixed her hair so it was loose and made her way out to the car.

The wedding was wonderful. No fuss and just the two of them. She'd never wanted to get married. But now as they left the courthouse for the hotel she couldn't imagine it any other way.

The next morning came to quickly after a night of enthusiastic marriage exploration.

"Eggy." Lucas whispered the following morning as the light hit his eyes. "We got to go to work."

Vic groaned but rolled over and smiled, "Morning hubby."

Luke smiled, "We're married."

Vic giggled, "We are."

God she was beautiful, he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her naked body. "We have to go to work now."

Vic groaned, "We could call in sick."

Lucas laughed, "We need to keep this a secret a little while longer. I think both of us calling in sick would be suspicious."

"Captain and Travis would figure it out in a second and have my head." Vic rolled away from him and slid out of bed. "Do we have time for a shower?"

Luke smiled, "If we hurry." He slid out of bed as well and moved to grab Vic.

His dreams had stopped being dreams and became moments of their lives together. But the wedding played over and over in his head. Occasionally he'd wake up for a moment hoping to see her. But the medications where strong and he'd fall into the abyss quickly.

"Till death do us part." She'd said it with a bouncy smile and such great enthusiasm. They'd both known what it meant. But he knew when he said it there was a risk. He just never expected it to actually happen.

"Victoria Marie Hughes, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife till death do us part."

He'd watched her face when he'd said her name. It lit up. He loved the way it sounded on his lips. Victoria.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the Comments! They've really motivated me to keep this going!

“Married?” Andy looked at Maya. “Are you sure?”   
Maya nodded. “Yes.”  
Travis looked shocked, Vic was terrible at keeping secrets. How could he, her best friend not know? “How did we not know?”  
“Wait, you didn’t know?” Dean looked surprised.  
Travis shook his head. “No clue. I mean I knew she was sleeping with someone but she always made it seem like it was that guy from 23 and it was just for fun. We called him her Hobby, it was casual. I didn’t realize hobby was code name for husband.”  
“What do we do now?” Ben asked.  
Sullivan looked around, he needed to take control of the situation for the sake of his team and for Ripley. “This isn’t the time to speculate. We have to be here for our fallen team members. The chief’s sister is on her way here and I don’t want any of this speculation going on with her around. You will be supportive.” He paused, “Montgomery according to my records you have medical power of attorney over Hughes, with Ripley down it diverts back to you. You need to decide what to tell her when she gets out of surgery.”   
Travis looked like he might vomit. He remembered the pain of losing Michael. He didn’t want her to endure that even if she’d kept secrets from him.   
_-_-_-_-_  
Travis hadn’t told her. The doctors tried to keep her under because of the intubation tube. He was thrilled when they announced they were going to try and take it out. But the idea of upsetting her, of telling her about Ripley was awful.   
The doctors appeared on the other side of the door and told him he could go in. And when he did he discovered his best friend was awake.  
“I’m so mad at you.” He whispered rushing over to the side of the bed.  
Her face wavered with emotion. “You would have done the same thing. Actually you did, in the skyscraper fire.” Her voice was raspy and every word hurt.  
“Vic. I have something to tell you. About Ripley.”  
She looked at his teary eyes. “He’s dead isn’t he?”  
Travis shook his head, “No. But he was exposed to some toxins. He has a pretty serious heart issue. They’ve stabilized the toxins levels and he’s in surgery now. But it’s serious.”  
Vic looked away. “I want to see him.” Tears formed in her eyes.  
Travis sat down on the side of her bed. “Vic you can’t move from this bed. You have some serious injuries. Your one lung had been punctured by your ribs so bad they don’t know if it will heal right and the other is damaged by the smoke. You just had major emergency surgery for internal bleeding. You will not move from this bed.”He glared at her.  
“He’s my husband.” She whispered.  
“I know.” Travis whispered thinking of Michael. “We all do now. And I’m impressed at your secret keeping ability’s. I will however be mad at you later for not telling me.”  
Vic grunted in pain, “I want to see him.”  
“He’s in surgery with Dr. Pierce so you can’t see him. But he will be okVic. She’s amazing remember?”  
She smiled slightly. “Is Jennifer here?”  
Travis looked confused. “Luke- Ripley’s little sister.” She clarified.  
He nodded, “Did you want to see her?”  
“Yea. I don’t want her sitting alone in the waiting room. Their dad died of heat issues. This is too close to home for her.”  
“Does she know?”  
“Yes,” Vic smiles, “She’s a bit bitter about missing the wedding but she’s happy he’s happy.”  
Travis smiles a bit, “She and I can start a club then. The rest of the team is just downright confused.”  
Vic nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We wanted to, but it was also nice to be in a little marriage bubble all alone.” She paused to take a painful breath,” HR will probably be here soon then.”  
Travis nodded, “Sullivan is making them wait. But yea. They are pretty pissed.”  
“Can you do me a favor?”  
Travis looked at her pain riddled face, “Absolutely.”  
“Go to my house and get some stuff for me? Clothes and stuff. But also our marriage license. It’s in the fire box under the desk in the spare room. I have a feeling that HR’s going to want that.” She laughed nervously, “Can you bring me one of his sweaters?”  
Travis looked surprised, “The chef wears sweaters?”  
Her insides felt warm, “Yeah. I’d have never guessed either. But they are so warm and they always smell like him. I just need one. I need something of his.”  
He nodded in understanding bid his goodbyes kissed her forehead and left.  
Minutes later Jennifer appeared in her doorway with red-rimmed eyes.  
Vic shifted and gasped for breath as pain radiated through her body.  
“Vic don’t.” Jennifer whispered stepping in and shutting the door.  
Vic put her hand out and took Jennifer’s as her sister in-law sat down. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything on the radio. I tempted him to go in.” She whispered.  
Jennifer shook her head. “No. He would have done it for anyone. The fact that it was you actually comforts me somehow.”  
Vic nodded. “Any word from the doctors?”  
“No. He’s gonna be in for like 4 more hours.” Jennifer whispered  
She looked at her sister in law, she looked like a car had hit her. “Did you drive here alone?”  
Jennifer nodded, “All 13 hours straight through. I couldn’t get a flight out with the fog up north and it was just faster.”  
“Have you slept since then?” Vic asked.  
Jennifer shook her head, “it’s not really possible with all the firefighters in the waiting room. They can’t sit still they just pace back and forth. And I honestly don’t think I could sleep if I tried.”  
Vic nodded and scooted closer to the edge of the bed despite the pain. “Come lay next to me. This is my good side.” She patted the side of the bed. “I don’t want to be alone, and once I push this little button things won’t hurt so bad. I really can’t stand the idea of sleeping alone without him right now. I just had the most awful dream.” She was referring to the bells.   
Jennifer wanted to protest, but the idea was appealing. Sleep was appealing. The idea of waking up and her brother being out of surgery rather than driving herself crazy for hours sounded nice. “I don’t want to hurt you.”  
Vic held up a button. “I push this and I’ll be fine. Besides this is my good-side.”  
Jennifer laughed a but then climbed into bed carefully arranging herself on the edge so as not to hurt Vic or get tangled in the wires.  
Vic had never had a sister but she imagined this was what sisters did.   
_---___---_-__

Travis was in awe of how oblivious he’d been to Vic and the chief. Standing there in Vic’s house it was clear they lived together and as he packed a bag for her he felt like an intruder. Drawers that where once he’s now held his underwear. His shampoo stood in the shower. Half way through packing he’d run in to enough of the Chief’s stuff it seemed rude not to back a bag for him as well. He was grabbing the marriage license when he heard a cat’s meow.   
It surprised him, Vic hated cats with a passion. But this cat, a small rather ugly tabby. “Hi.” He whispered. The cat hissed at him. “OK that’s cool. I’ll try to find your food then I’ll leave you be.”

He chuckled, the cat was a bit like Vic. He found cat food in the hall closet and refilled the bowl with food and water. He grabbed the two bags off the bed and on his way out of her bedroom he stopped, a photo on her dresser of the two of them caught his eye. She was smiling at the camera but Chief Ripley was looking at her with a smile. He loved her, it was clear from the photo. Below the photo sat a ring dish with two rings Travis paused for a second. He thought for a second before dropping them into a nearby jewelry box to take with him. He suspected they would appreciate having them on now that the secret was out.   
He returned to the hospital as quickly as possible to find Vic and Jennifer asleep together. He snapped a photo of them together knowing in the future it might have sentimental value. He slipped away to allow them sleep until the doctors woke them up with news  
_----_____----  
When Jennifer woke up she slipped away quietly to let her sister in law sleep pulling Travis out of the waiting room to keep watch over Vic. Travis had only been there a few minutes before she started to lift her heavy eyes. “Hi.” Travis whispered. “Jennifer went to try to get an update on the chief. She will be back soon.”   
Vic smiled weakly.   
Travis pulled out the bag he’d brought from her house. “I fed your cat.”  
“Cliché? She’s horrible isn’t she?”   
Travis laughed, “She is something.”  
“Lucas literally rescued her from a tree. Insisted we keep her even though she hates us.”  
“I brought you something too.” He pulled out the box containing he’s and the chief’s rings. “Since the secret’s out I thought you might like these.”  
Vic’s eyes teared up, “Thank you.” Her shaky fingers pulled her simple gold band with carvings and a few small diamonds out of the box and slid it on her finger.”   
Moments later Jennifer appeared with tears in her eyes and Vic felt her stomach drop.


	6. Chapter 6

He was alive. The words had come out of Jennifer’s mouth before Vic could totally lose it. But her sister-in-law’s face was awful and indicated bad news.  
“He’s out of surgery. But it’s too soon to tell anything yet.”  
Vic nodded and let out a painful breath. “He’s not your dad.” She whispered, “He’s made it this far, he’ll be ok. Besides he’s in excellent physical shape and I know for a fact that your dad was overweight when he had his heart issues.”  
“They said he’s been exposed to chemicals.” Jenifer whispered.  
Vic nodded, “we all where, but I’m fine see?”  
Jennifer nodded, “Do you mind if I go sit with him?”  
Vic smiled, “Please call me when he wakes up? I need to hear his voice.”  
Jen squeezed Vic’s hand, “Absolutely. What’s the point of paying all this money for our phones if we can’t use FaceTime? The minute he’s up I’ll call.”  
Vic shook her head, “I don’t have my phone. We don’t take them on calls. It’s in my locker.”  
Jennifer nodded, “I’ll talk to Robert about getting it for you.”  
Vic smiled thankfully, “When he wakes up give him this and tell him the secrets out?” She asked slipping the box containing his ring into her sister in laws hand.”  
Jennifer smiled and slipped away. An hour later she heard a pair of boots on the floor and immediately identified them as Sullivan’s.  
He knocked quietly and she motioned him in, trying not to moan at the pain she found herself in. “Captain.”  
He sat down next to her his normally steel gaze soft. “Hughes. I have your phone.”  
She smiled, “Thank you Captain.” She looked at him quietly, “I’m sorry.”  
“What are you apologizing for?”  
A tear fell. “Everything.” She whispered, “The secrets. The displaying orders?”  
Sullivan shook his head, “You made the right call. The structure was unstable. No one should have gone in. You and Conlin made the right call. But it’s hard as a captain to let one of your team get left behind. I’m charged with keeping you all safe and I failed you.”  
Vic shook her head. “We run into burning buildings for a living you’ll never keep us all safe. But it’s nice to know you are on our side.” She said affectingly.  
Sullivan smiled, “The team is pretty eager to see you. Would you mind if we came back to see you around dinner time? The nurse out there seems pretty strict about visitors but Warren said she leaves at 5.  
Vic smiled, but inside it shocked her that she had missed almost an entire 24 hours due to surgery and medication. “A team dinner with hospital jello and ice chips, I wouldn’t miss it!” She jokes. Her heart is happy that Sullivan is saying we in reference to the team.  
He pats her arm and leaves and Vic texts her sister in law hoping for news about her husband.

_\|_

Lucas awoke to find his sister pacing the room anxiously. His eye lids where heavy and he wanted nothing more but to sleep. He searched the room for Vic and the fire flooded his memory the dream he had suddenly made him feel cold. “Jennifer.” He whispered his mouth dry and voice raspy and weak.  
She spun around in a panic and wanted to cry when she saw his eyes open. She grabbed the water glass by his bed and held it for him as he drank. “I’m so glad you are awake!” Her eyes teared up.  
“Victoria?” He whispered almost afraid to ask.  
“She’s down the hall in another room. She’s ok. Pretty badly banged up, lots of broken ribs and internal bleeding and some lung issues but she’s alive.”  
Lucas searched her eyes to make sure she was telling the truth.  
Jennifer tried to smile, “I actually took a nap with her this afternoon while you where in surgery. Now I can say I’ve slept with your wife.” She tried to joke.  
Luke doesn’t laugh. “I had surgery?”  
She nodded, “Open heart. You had a pretty serious heart issue that was not helped by the fact that you where exposed to some serious toxins. They spend most of the night trying to stabilize you before getting you in for heart surgery with Dr. Perice late this morning.”  
Lucas nodded but his brain was struggling to compute. “Can I see her?”  
Jenifer nodded, “Only over FaceTime. You can’t get out of bed yet.”  
Lucas grumbled but they called Vic. When she didn’t answer Jennifer felt her blood run cold. “I’ll go check on her. She might be asleep, it’s 9pm and she’s had a long day.”  
She found Travis and a doctor talking outside Vic’s door. “What is it?”  
Travis presses a hand to his forehead, “An infection they think. She’s got a high fever. They’ve reintubated her and put her under to keep her calm.  
Jennifer felt like vomiting. “We don’t tell him. He’s not strong enough yet.”  
Travis nods, “Telling him she’s sleeping isn’t technically a lie.”  
“It’s not the truth.” She murmured, and with that Jennifer returned to her brother and lied about his wife being ok.  
She prayed that Vic would be, because if not Luke would never forgive her.


End file.
